Shu thought for a moment and realized something didn't add up.
"Wait. If everyone ran away, why does the family even need someone to manage it?"
"Hehe, well, we're not idiots," Kiana chuckled. "Being out there all alone means your strength is limited. Only by returning to the family can you get involved in bigger things and help more people."
"So everyone is actually just laying low for a while. Once a new Family Head steps up, they all come back. Then, with the family's backing, they head out to do disaster relief, help the poor, mediate conflicts... Basically, just going out to help people."
So that was the real reason?!
"Then your dad..."
Kiana's smile faltered.
Then, she sighed.
"My stupid old man was that unlucky sap." She looked profoundly melancholic.
"My stupid dad was actually the one from his generation who didn't manage to get away. But later on, he still ended up making a run for it, taking my mom with him.
"But everyone had a pact: the last one standing becomes the Family Head. So, my stupid dad got tricked into coming back to take the job." Kiana sighed, her entire being radiating exasperation. "He actually had the nerve to claim he came back on his own to keep his promise... Honestly, it's not like I'm an idiot."
However, Kiana quickly took a deep breath, putting her confident side on display.
"Good thing I ran fast!
"So you see, us Kaslanas know how to support ourselves from a young age. Even though I'm a proper young lady, I know how to work! I can make my own money! I won't just freeload off you!"
Shu leaned back slightly.
"Then what about today...?"
"Today was an exception!" Kiana scrambled to defend herself. "Today was—it was—"
She wracked her brain and finally found the right phrase.
"Revenge spending!"
Shu blinked.
"What?"
"Revenge spending!" Kiana declared righteously. "I suffered so much during the Honkai and went through so much grievance! Now that I'm finally free, I just wanted—I just wanted to experience everything I never got to enjoy before!"
She paused, her voice shrinking a little.
"But I lost track and ended up spending too much..."
Shu fell silent for a second.
"So, are you done getting your revenge?"
Kiana blinked.
"What?"
"Your revenge spending," Shu clarified. "Are you done with it?"
Kiana pondered this.
"...I don't think so."
"Then we continue tomorrow?"
Kiana froze for a second before bursting into laughter.
"Shu, are you messing with me?"
"No."
"You are! You're totally messing with me!"
"I'm not."
"The corners of your mouth are twitching!" Kiana accused, her eyes darting around playfully.
Shu subconsciously touched the corner of his mouth.
Flat.
He wasn't smiling.
He looked at Kiana.
Kiana was looking back at him, her eyes curved into two happy crescents.
"Gotcha! You weren't smiling at all!"
Shu flushed slightly in embarrassment.
"...Let's go." He quickened his pace, walking ahead.
Kiana giggled and jogged to keep up.
They hadn't walked much further before Shu pulled out his phone again and started scrolling.
Kiana leaned over to peek.
"What are you looking at?"
"Checking the receipts."
"What for?"
"Seeing if any auto-renewals got mixed in." Shu kept swiping. "Sometimes when you buy something, you accidentally check the auto-renewal box, and they keep charging you the next month."
Kiana blinked.
"They can do that?"
"Yeah."
"That's such a scam!"
"Yeah."
Shu focused intently on the screen, screening the transactions line by line.
Kiana walked beside him, waiting quietly.
The moonlight was bright, the streetlights were warm, and the night breeze was gentle.
The two walked in peaceful silence—one with his head down looking at his phone, the other with her head tilted up looking at the moon.
Then—
"Meow."
A very soft sound drifted from the side of the road.
Kiana's footsteps faltered.
She turned her head, following the sound.
In the shadow of a streetlight crouched a small, completely white cat, curled up into a little ball.
It seemed to notice Kiana's gaze. It lifted its head, looking at the two passersby with a pair of heterochromatic eyes.
One gold, one blue.
Under the moonlight, those eyes looked like two differently colored gemstones, shining brightly with a hint of cautious anticipation.
"Meow," it cried out again.
Kiana stood entirely still.
She stared at the cat, at its mismatched eyes, at its pure white fur, and at its tiny silhouette huddled beneath the streetlight.
Something flashed through her mind.
White.
Mismatched eyes.
Small.
Like it was waiting for someone.
It was unclear what she had remembered, but she subconsciously let go of Shu's hand, turning and walking toward the cat.
At the exact moment their hands parted, Shu was still engrossed in his phone.
He was rapidly tapping into every single transaction from the day, numbers scrolling across the screen line by line. His full attention was glued to the device.
But the very second that soft warmth vanished from his grasp, Shu's heart seized with a violently abrupt tremor.
He snapped his head up, his eyes darting around in sheer panic.
The moonlight was suddenly swallowed by the clouds. The glow of the streetlights seemed to warp into grotesque monsters. Every single sound in the surroundings evaporated in an instant. In that moment, the only thing left in Shu's entire world was the sound of his own heart, beating faster and faster.
His heart rate skyrocketed, sending uncontrollable tremors wracking through his entire body.
The relatively calm emotions he possessed just seconds ago spiked to their absolute peak without any warning, threatening to tear right through his threshold of rationality.
His sanity fought back. He desperately tried to suppress this sudden emotional surge, just as he had done countless times before. He was practiced at this. He could do it...
No, he couldn't.
Kiana... where is she?
Fear.
It felt like an invisible hand had gripped his heart, squeezing it ruthlessly.
Anxiety.
Will she come back?
Will she ever come back?
What if she doesn't come back?
What if she's just gone?
Mania.
No.
I can't let her go.
I can't let her leave.
I can't—
Shu violently whirled around.
His movements were so blindingly fast that even he failed to register them.
He caught sight of Kiana's back as she turned away.
She had just let go of his hand and was taking her first step toward the side of the road.
Shu shot his hand out, clamping down on Kiana's wrist with terrifying force. He squeezed so tightly it bordered on a complete loss of control.
Even though he realized a split second later that this might hurt her...
He didn't dare let go.
He was panting heavily. It wasn't until his fingers locked around Kiana's wrist that Shu finally felt his heart rate begin to decelerate, the ringing in his ears ebbing and flowing.
The double vision before him slowly merged back into focus, though his limbs were still shaking.
He felt incredibly sick...
But it didn't matter.
He had caught her.
Kiana stumbled backward from the sudden pull.
She froze and whipped her head around.
And then she saw Shu.
Under the moonlight, Shu's face was terrifyingly pale—even paler than when they had left the house that morning.
Paler than when they had been surrounded by that massive crowd in the mall.
His lips were completely devoid of color, and a thin sheen of cold sweat coated his forehead. His chest was heaving violently, gasping for air as if he were simultaneously suffocating.
Those beautiful eyes of his—Kiana had seen that exact look in them before.
Back then, he...
Had just died.